The finale 10 years ago is one of the most revered in the sport’s history due to the excitement and unpredictability of it.

Hamilton was only in his second year of F1 at the time, and he was fortunate to prevail in a year in which he had a number of incidents, including crashing in the pit lane.

There has been none of that drama in 2018 largely because Hamilton has put in such a complete campaign in terms of performance.

This has been Hamilton’s best season in the sport as he hardly put a wheel wrong of note all year and has capitalised on every opportunity that has come his way.

He and Mercedes have been the dominant force in F1 in the turbo engine era of the sport. The German marque have won the past five championships, with this latest one Hamilton’s fourth with them.

But, they have not had it their own way for much of the season as Vettel and Ferrari have often been the fastest package.

"It's Max's day, and mostly Lewis' day, so congrats to them"

Gracious in defeat, but determined to give Ferrari a chance in the constructors' championship. Seb's not done for this season yet... 😏#MexicoGP 🇲🇽 #F1 pic.twitter.com/shZjSVTF5T
— Formula 1 (@F1)
October 29, 2018

Yet Hamilton is 64 points clear with only two races to go and he can afford to enjoy Brazil on November 11 and the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 25 with the title in the bag.

When Hamilton has been at the front he has triumphed in style. When he has not been fastest he has kept the pressure on and so often Vettel or his Ferrari team has cracked.

There has been fortune. Wet weather helped him in Germany and Hungary, and there has been the aforementioned blunders of his main rivals.

But, Hamilton capitalised on everything that came his way. It is all very well having the opportunity but you have to take it and the winner of 71 races in his career has done just that.

Mexico was a demonstration of Hamilton’s maturity. He ran second early on, but never tried to fight with Verstappen, knowing the Dutchman was quicker.

He did not even tussle with Vettel, allowing the Ferrari man a fairly straightforward pass when the two had a brief duel mid-race.